Health care partners expand women’s health center

BUCKHANNON — A partnership with WVU Medicine and Community Care of West Virginia has allowed St. Joseph’s Hospital to expand its obstetrics and gynecology services.Following renovations to The Center for Women’s Health at St. Joseph’s Hospital, an official ribbon cutting was held Tuesday with the Buckhannon-Upshur Chamber of Commerce. Skip Gjolberg, St. Joseph’s Hospital administrator, said other than the hospital’s emergency room program with WVU Medicine, this was a new type of venture with WVU Medicine.By bringing in providers from Community Care of West Virginia and working with WVU Medicine, it increases the depth of St. Joseph’s Hospital providers, he added. The Center for Women’s Health at St. Joseph’s Hospital is home to two doctors: Dr. Kimberly Farry and Dr. Peter Power; Keely Burnside, P.A.C; and three midwives. Leo Brancazio, M.D., is a professor and chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at West Virginia University School of Medicine.“This story started in the 1990s when I met Dr. [Kimberly] Farry,” he said. “I was amazed at the work she was doing in West Virginia for women. Rural communities throughout the state are in danger of losing obstetrics and gynecology because they just don’t have the volume of patients.”This partnership sets a foundation for maintaining the quality gynecology and obstetrics across the state, according to Brancazio.